We’re six months into 2024, and within the first half of the yr we have been handled to a whirlwind of augmented and digital actuality tech goodness.
The star of the present was the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional launch, however we’ve additionally seen Meta open up its Horizon OS to its former VR rivals, and Xreal launched new glasses and a spatial computing accent that lastly really feel just like the AR future we’ve been promised.
The yr’s removed from over although, with {hardware} bulletins anticipated from Meta and (if we’re fortunate) Samsung within the coming months – so let’s dive into the yr to date in AR/VR, and check out what we would see within the again half of 2024.
AR/VR in 2024: what have been the largest bulletins to date this yr?
We are able to’t discuss AR and VR tech in 2024 with out speaking in regards to the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional – probably the most anticipated XR product launch possibly ever. Sadly for Apple, whereas its headset made a serious splash when it launched in February – with our Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional evaluate awarding it four-and-a-half-stars – the hype has since petered out, and the upcoming international launch on July 12 for Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and the UK doesn’t appear to have reignited main curiosity within the $3,499 / £3,499 / AU$5,999 system.
However the VR area was given a serious shake up this yr, even when not by Apple. That’s as a result of Meta introduced that its Horizon OS can be coming to third-party headsets – beginning with gadgets from ASUS, Lenovo and Xbox. That is tremendous thrilling because the Horizon OS is the perfect standalone VR platform due to its intuitive UI, huge software program library, and common updates.
Horizon OS going third-party ought to see the launch of a wider vary of headset designs – focusing in distinct niches like gaming, productiveness, train, and extra – that aren’t held again by lackluster working methods; which was the case for headsets just like the HTC Vive XR Elite)
Although it wasn’t all excellent news from Meta because it reduce assist for the unique Oculus Quest headset. April 30 was the final day builders may ship app updates to the half-a-decade-old VR system, and August will mark the ultimate month Meta will ship out “important bug fixes and safety patches” to the system – so if you wish to maintain utilizing your Quest library it’d lastly be time to improve to the Meta Quest 3 (which we’d advocate anyway as a way to take pleasure in upcoming unique like Batman: Arkham Shadow).
Lastly, within the AR area particularly, Xreal introduced the Xreal Air 2 Extremely and a helpful Xreal Beam Professional accent – that’s mainly a spatial computing prepared smartphone. We haven’t but had an opportunity to check out the Extremely, however its been billed as a extra reasonably priced various to the Imaginative and prescient Professional, full with in-built cameras so you may work together with digital parts along with your palms (one thing you couldn’t do with earlier fashions such because the common Xreal Air 2).
AR/VR in 2024: what launches are we anticipating throughout the remainder of the yr?
One headset that we’ll nearly actually see later this yr is the Meta Quest 3S. This so-called reasonably priced Quest 3 is believed to pack the Quest 3’s mind (a Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset) in a cumbersome Quest 2-like physique – in addition to adopting a number of different downgrades.
Meta hasn’t stated a lot formally, nevertheless it has leaked the system twice. One leak concerned its CTO unintentionally showcasing it within the background of a Threads video, whereas the opposite noticed the Quest 3S showing unintentionally on some Meta Quest Retailer pages as a appropriate headset for some software program. So this all however ensures it’ll present up at Meta Join 2024, which we all know is scheduled for September 25 – 26.
Meta additionally dropped a shock teased its first pair of AR glasses on the finish of a weblog put up earlier this yr, however we don’t count on they’ll launch in 2024 – with a leaked inside roadmap shared by The Verge again in 2023 suggesting they’ll land in 2027, although a pair of precursor sensible glasses are anticipated in 2025 to replace its AI-powered Ray-Ban Meta Good Glasses product line.
Getting again to 2024 releases, we would additionally see the highly-anticipated Samsung XR/VR headset. Samsung and Google introduced its existence over a yr in the past, however haven’t had a lot to say on it since – with rumors suggesting they delayed its launch following reactions to the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional. Hopefully which means it wasn’t pushed out of 2024 and into 2025 or past, however we’ll have to attend and see.
